abcnovels
Chapter 145
Chapter 145
Chapter 145
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
Chapter 145: Blood Prison Stone
Special guests visited Kim Minwoo’s residence – the four elders, including Sword Saint.
“You need dragon’s blood?”
“Yes, I do need it…”
“We’ve collected it in advance, just in case. We’ll give it to you now.”
“You collected it in advance?”
Sword Saint nodded at those words.
“Haha. What, did you think we’d only get a single dragon corpse and call it a day?”
“I didn’t expect this at all…”
“If you need anything else in the future, just let us know. We’ll do our best to get it for you.”
The three old men nodded.
After receiving a great favor from Kim Minwoo.
All four of them even gave him their numbers directly, but Kim Minwoo didn’t ask for a single favor.
Instead, he occasionally sent greetings and donations.
It wasn’t that he never needed any help.
He had simply endured everything silently on his own.
His rapid growth rate made that clear.
The four old men were getting anxious because of that.
Especially the Sword Saint.
Not only himself, but his granddaughter had also received help from Kim Minwoo.
A favor so great that it couldn’t be repaid.
If not for him, the awkwardness with his granddaughter may have persisted.
It was an issue that Sword Saint himself could not resolve.
He had to give him something.
Yet the young man was too reserved to make any requests.
He should ask for something so they could help him, shouldn’t he?
The dragon corpses were something the four brothers had painstakingly collected with that in mind.
“We’ve stockpiled around 40 of them. Where should we put them?”
…40?
Kim Minwoo inwardly gasped.
Dragon tribes ranged from mini-bosses to boss-level monsters. And they had collected 40 of them, no small feat.
What kind of blessing was this?
Moreover, dragon corpses were invaluable.
The blood for the Blood Prison Stone, bones for undead like Cedric, and materials for future crafting.
Naturally, they were expensive.
Of course, the problem wasn’t the money, but the process of obtaining it.
‘I hit the jackpot.’
40 was enough to enhance Merhen, Cedric, and his other undead forces.
“I’ll accept them gratefully. That area over there is empty. Could you place them there?”
“Sure.”
And so, dragon corpses began to pour endlessly from the four men’s inventories. Corpses that weren’t as big as the ancient dragon, but still had considerable size.
If he had tried to purchase these, it might have cost upwards of 20 trillion won.
He took out the Blood Prison Stone.
Soon, the round bead began to hum as red aura rose from the fallen dragon corpses.
[Would you like to absorb the blood?]
The moment he nodded.
Swoosh!
Blood gushed from all directions, sucked into the bead like a receding tide.
“What a wondrous artifact. So this is why you needed the blood?”
“Yes. By absorbing blood into this, I can enhance my undead forces, similar to how I used bones before.”
Even as they conversed, the bead continued absorbing blood.
Eventually, when all the dragon corpses were desiccated husks, a message appeared:
[All blood in the vicinity has been absorbed! The amount of blood is sufficient!]
[Dragon Blood 100% Charged.]
[Structure can be changed to Blood Jade. Would you like to proceed?]
Dragon Blood.
The best of all blood.
Naturally, the first undead to receive it were already decided.
Merhen and Cedric.
The two generals manifested themselves.
“Oh, are these your subordinates, Minwoo?”
The Fist King asked curiously, looking at the two.
“Yes, they are. These are the elders who care for me. Say hello.”
Cedric, who had been observing the four, nodded in understanding.
—Are these the ones who replaced my head?
“Yeah, and now we’ll replace your blood too.”
—Blood?
Kim Minwoo showed Cedric the Blood Prison Stone.
Merhen also crept closer to inspect it.
—Wow, you’re going to strengthen us with dragon blood?
“Yeah, these are dragon corpses. The elders worked hard to get them.”
—Thank you all! You went through so much trouble to help Minwoo!
Merhen hopped over to the four of them and grabbed their hands one by one.
“Ahem. That, young lady, how old are you…?”
The Poison Demon asked carefully.
Merhen tilted her head at his words.
— Are you single, by any chance?
“I have children, but…you know…”
—Oh? Then you should know how rude it is to ask a woman’s age!
The Poison Demon sank with one blow.
Cedric added.
—There’s no need to be uncomfortable. We’re also quite old. We just don’t age.
—Minwoo! He’s lying. Merhen doesn’t age. You know that, right?
“I see. Got it.”
Though truthfully, he didn’t quite understand.
But did it really matter?
The important thing was that the four of them didn’t feel uncomfortable.
He leaned closer and whispered.
“Elders, please understand. My summons are quite…unique.”
“Haha, we understand. Third brother, undead are usually older than they look. They don’t age, you know. How can you know less about the basics than me, who lives in the mountains?”
“…But there are some who aren’t as old as they look. I was asking just in case. Ahem.”
Additional information about the Poison Demon:
Sensitive about age.
He deftly changed the subject.
“I’m thinking of strengthening the legion commanders. Would you like to see?”
“If that’s alright with you?”
“Of course.”
They had given him 40 dragon corpses.
The least he could do was show them this.
He activated the Blood Prison Stone’s function.
At that moment,
[The Blood Jade is opening!]
Along with the message, a room that literally looked like a red jade chamber popped out.
It was big enough for two or three people to enter.
[When you put the target undead inside the Blood Jade, the strengthening will begin.]
[The more undead you put in, the bigger the Blood Jade will become. However, the strengthening effect may be dispersed if there are too many.]
[The amount of blood consumed will vary depending on the level and ability of the undead.]
—It’s a prison?
“The appearance may be a bit like that, but the effect will be amazing, so go inside.”
Of course.
He had absorbed the blood of 40 dragons – the effects had to be astounding.
The kind hearted Merhen went first, opening the door and stepping inside.
Cedric followed suit.
The moment they both entered,
[Both are undead with strong enough potential to accept dragon blood!]
[Estimated Dragon Blood Consumption: 50%]
[Proceed with enhancement?]
“Shall we?”
—Yes.
—By all means.
[Strengthening initiated.]
Along with the message.
A red, mist-like aura began to surround the two undead.
Cedric’s bones gradually turning red. Merhen’s skin also flushed red.
“Are you feeling any pain or discomfort?”
—No, it just feels like I’m submerged in hot water. Soothing, actually.
—An apt analogy.
[The two undead are absorbing the Dragon Blood into their bodies.]
[Estimated Time: 10 hours]
10 hours.
The strengthening process took quite a bit of time.
‘Is it because they’re absorbing a lot of blood?’
Well, yeah.
They were absorbing half of the blood extracted from 40 dragon corpses, which was equivalent to the blood of 20 dragons.
It made sense that it would take time.
“It says it will take around 10 hours. Will you wait inside or…”
“It’s alright. We’ve seen the gist of it, so we can imagine the rest.”
Sword Saint’s words were met with nods from the other three elders.
They had seen the wondrous sight, so they were satisfied.
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
There was no need to wait 10 hours just to see the end result.
As long as consuming the dragon blood helped Kim Minwoo, the process didn’t matter.
With that understanding, their task was complete.
“Then we’ll be on our way.”
“You can rest here if you want…”
“No, we must always strive in our training, lest we fall behind.”
“The eldest brother is right. If we want to provide even this meager assistance to you, Minwoo, we must also train diligently.”
Following Sword Saint’s lead, Divine Spear also exuded fervor for training.
“But it won’t be boring. That Isabella girl, she has quite a fighting spirit. She’s perfect as a sparring partner.”
The Fist King said, sniffing.
His muscles were already twitching as if he was itching to fight.
“Is she still at the Sword Sect?”
“I saw her leaving earlier today. But she didn’t seem intent on leaving anytime soon. You can tell at a glance – her eyes are firmly set. Dead set.”
“Please keep this a secret for now.”
“Huh? I wasn’t planning on telling anyone anyway. It’s one thing to say she’s a good person, but this is another matter. Don’t you think so, brothers?”
“Indeed. We must separate work and personal matters. I only plan to temper her basic skills a bit. That alone should provide sufficient fulfillment for staying here.”
Dokma answered resolutely.
The Poison Demon answered sharply.
They were truly reliable elders.
10 hours passed.
[Strengthening complete!]
The prison door opened with a message. Merhen came out with a limp face.
[Merhen’s body is now infused with dragon blood!]
[The Heart of the Demonic Dragon will be created!]
[Dragon’s Authority Level 1 has been unlocked!]
[The ‘Rampage’ function has been unlocked!]
Those were the messages for Merhen.
As for Cedric,
[Cedric’s body has been infused with Dragon Blood!]
[The Heart of the Blood Dragon has been created!]
[Dragon’s Authority Level 1 has been unlocked!]
[You are a Dragon Knight!]
[Receiving additional adjustments!]
[The ‘Manifestation’ function has been activated!]
[The effect of the ‘Master of the Dragon Knight’ title has been further unlocked!]
Even more messages popped up.
He had inwardly wondered if Cedric would get some bonus for being a Dragon Knight.
‘A home run?’
He looked at his two summons.
First, Merhen.
“What changed?”
—First, this!
[Merhen uses Dragon’s Authority Level 1, Hatchling Dragon’s Wings.]
Flap!
Adorable wings sprouted from Merhen’s back, resembling those of a dragon.
“Can you fly now?”
—Yeah, I think so. Give me a moment.
Flap flap!
The tiny wings flapped as Merhen took to the skies.
“Whoa, fast!”
—Yes. I can move even faster if I use wind magic. Like this.
Whoosh!
Merhen instantly accelerated with the wind.
Kim Minwoo’s eyes shone.
‘Nice!’
A mage’s weakness was mobility.
Merhen’s mobility itself wasn’t particularly fast either.
She only moved around using magic.
But with those wings?
‘Her mobility will increase even more.’
Her survivability had greatly improved.
And Merhen’s changes didn’t end there.
—Minwoo, there’s also this!
[Merhen uses Dragon’s Authority Level 1, Hatchling Dragon’s Scales.]
Immediately, Merhen’s skin transformed into dragon scales.
“Let me test how durable it is.”
—Go ahead. But it’s extremely tough. I don’t think even your sword can pierce it?
As Merhen said, the durability was considerable. Even his full-power attacks only…
Clang!
It was enough to block it with just sparks flying.
‘It’ll take a few stacked hits to break through.’
And she hadn’t even cast a defensive spell yet. If she combined it with magic, it would be incredible. Finally, Rampage was…
[Rampage activated!]
[For 10 minutes, the power of all magic increases by 30%!]
[You can stack up to five spells!]
A spectral draconic form manifested around Merhen. The amplified damage was overwhelming.
[Merhen stacks Flame’s Fury (SS)!]
The fire energy gathered in her hand gradually turned crimson, and then…
Boom!
A part of the training hall’s wall disappeared without a trace.
“Whoa.”
Kim Minwoo was amazed.
The spell, stacked five times, had damage that was beyond imagination.
Not just five times, but nearly eight times the power.
The only downside was a slightly longer casting time.
‘This is awesome.’
This is really good.
He could tell that even Merhen felt that way.
Plus, Cedric was in a state where he had received additional adjustments as a Dragon Knight.
First, the title.
[Master of the Dragon Knight]
[Became the master of the Dragon Knight, Cedric.]
[Effect 1. The learning ability of all skeleton-type summoned creatures greatly increases.]
[Effect 2. Skeletons can now reach the rank of Dragon Soldier.]
[Effect 3. Exudes a strong sense of oppression to Dragon-type monsters.]
Effects one to three remained the same. But a new feature was unlocked at Effect 4.
[Effect 4: You can create Cedric’s comrade, the Divine Dragon Gleipnir.]
[Effect 5: Unopened state.]
‘Divine Dragon Gleipnir?’
Is it referring to the dragon he saw in the first trial?
As he examined the effects in detail, the specific details came to mind.
[Creating the Divine Dragon Gleipnir]
[List of Materials]
[1. Ancient Dragon Corpse over 10,000 Years Old]
[2. Sorsalron Flower]
[3. Bloodline of the Abyss Lord]
[4. 500L of Balrog’s Blood]
[5. 3 Threads of the Eastern Witches’ Coven]
[6. A Handful of Mimir’s Sigh]
Familiar and unfamiliar ingredients were mixed throughout.
“Cedric, do you know what the Sorsalron Flower, Threads of the Eastern Witches’ Coven, and Mimir’s Sigh are?”
?Is the creation of Gleipnir open now?
“Huh.”
?It’s better not to attempt the creation immediately. Since the related materials are all associated with different factions.
“Factions?”
-The Sorsalron Flower is associated with the Dragon Factions, the Threads with the Eastern Witches’ Coven, and Mimir’s Sigh with the Giant Race.
He got the gist of it.
‘Thinking about it now will just give me a headache. I’ll gather them one by one when the time comes.’
He shrugged and looked at Cedric.
“So, what did you gain?”
?This.
Immediately.
Cedric’s appearance changed.
[The dragon’s energy manifests!]
Not only did his bones turn completely red, but his size also doubled.
His bones thickened even more, and his already dragon-like head had transformed to the point where it boasted a 100% synchronization rate with a dragon’s appearance.
Flutter!
Red wings made of bone sprouted from his back.
[‘Manifestation’ state.]
[Maintained for 30 minutes.]
[Strength, Agility, and Stamina increased by 50%.]
[Dragon Blood Slassh can be used.]
Cedric began to fly freely using his wings.
When he used Dragon Blood Slash, a huge crescent-shaped red slash split everything in a straight line. This was also incredibly powerful.
It wasn’t as strong as Merhen’s five-fold stack, but on the other hand, it had the advantage of a very short casting time.
‘Awesome.’
It was like the two legion commanders had gained a kind of awakening skill.
Power augmentation?
It’s truly explosive.
Moreover…
‘There’s still half the dragon blood left.’
This can be applied to all ordinary summons.
First of all, he would give it to Dolsae.
And then Dullahan, Specter, Skeletons, and so on.
There were plenty of summons to inject dragon blood into.
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]